Congregational Church in Killingworth (1820)

In 1735, responding to a petition from the farmers residing in the north section of Killingworth, the town was divided into two separate Ecclesiastical Societies, north and south. The southern section of town was later incorporated as the town of Clinton in 1838. The northern society‘s first meeting house (1736) was located on “Stoney Hill, just north of the bridge across Bear Swamp,” (near the intersection of the present Routes 80 and 81). This initial building was replaced by a new one in 1743. The third and current house of worship of the Congregational Church in Killingworth, at 273 Route 81, was built between 1817 and 1820. The bell was installed in 1870 and the organ in 1875. The addition of the Parish Hall was begun in 1959 and was dedicated in 1961, the same year the church voted to join the United Church of Christ.